In a Violent Nature (Canada, 2024)

Since the 1990s, when Scream changed how we think about slasher films, the genre has gone through some strange mutations. While there are still franchises that play things straight, like the Chromeskull and Terrifier series, they are vastly outnumbered by films which try to put a clever spin on things. I’ve reviewed comedies like You Might Be the Killer and playful science fiction riffs like Totally Killer, but the more straightforward slasher films I’ve covered have generally been older ones.

In a Violent Nature offers a unique middle-ground between these approaches, using classic genre tropes unironically but presenting them in a new and surprising way.

In a Violent Nature is currently streaming on Shudder in the UK.

Synopsis

A gold necklace hangs in the ruins of an old woodland fire tower. Voices off-camera describe the area as a graveyard, mentioning the “White Pines slaughter”. A hand then reaches in and takes the necklace, inviting disaster. This disaster proves a glacial one, however. A corpse slowly drags itself up from the dirt under the ruins and lumber off in a purposeful way.

We follow this revenant as he strolls through the woods, following the gold necklace like it’s a homing device. Our views of him are largely from behind until he eventually breaks into a forest fire station and steals an old-fashioned firefighter’s mask, completing his transformation into a classic movie slasher.

A point-of-view shift introduces us to the people we heard earlier. They are camping in the woods, sharing expositional campfire tales. Our revenant is apparently a “slow kid” named Johnny, who died when he fell from the fire tower. His father was then killed in a fight with the loggers he blamed for his son’s death. Since then, it seems, Johnny has developed quite the habit of rising from the grave and killing people. Maybe they should stop stealing his necklace.

Of course, this being a slasher movie, Johnny is going to work his way through these campers and anyone else he comes across, exacting increasingly bloody vengeance.

General Thoughts

For such a slow-paced film, In a Violent Nature displays a real economy of storytelling. We are dropped straight into the story with no explanation, only learning details as we need them. For the first act, Johnny is simply a shape plodding through the woods. There is little dialogue and no real character introductions. We simply wander in and out of peoples lives and deaths, like a bloodier version of Slacker.

Unless it is terrible, the lighting in a horror film rarely stands out. Here, however, the night-time scenes have exactly enough ambient light to see what we need to, avoiding the terrible artificiality of day-for-night shots. The woods still look dark, with little visible in the periphery, but you can always pick out the action clearly. It’s rare to see a horror film that gets this so right.

Similarly, the sound design is subtle but highly effective. This is especially important, as there is no score. The few snatches of music we hear are purely diegetic, so most of our emotional cues come from ambient sound.

The aspect ratio is also unusual. You might expect a film that makes so much use of panoramic settings to use an equally panoramic canvas. Instead, we have the 4:3 ratio of pre-widescreen television. This makes the action feel claustrophobic, and harks back to the days of watching slasher films on rented videos.

The Killer

While we do learn Johnny’s name and a little of his backstory, it’s difficult not just to think of him as “The Killer”. It’s only about halfway into the film that we even glimpse his face. Most of the time, we see the back of his head or eventually the mask he adopts. Combined with his silence and the simple, animalistic nature of his actions, this killer comes across as a force of nature rather than a character, even when we see things from his perspective. He has the same relentless inevitability as the entity from It Follows.

When we do shift point of view away from Johnny, he becomes a terrifying, half-glimpsed menace. The simple fact that we’re so used to following him makes not knowing where he is all the more frightening.

Johnny’s early kills are swift and impersonal, culling victims with the detached efficiency of an abattoir worker. As the film goes on, however, he seems to develop a taste for violence, growing steadily more brutal. Killing has awoken something animalistic in Johnny and we worry whether getting the necklace back will be enough for him.

There is much of Jason Voorhees in Johnny. He is a developmentally disabled child in the resurrected body of a brutish man, invulnerable in his undeath. Silent and emotionless, he is a cipher that exists only to kill. His firefighter’s mask is closest thing he has to an identity, much as Jason’s hockey mask defines him.

Verdict

From the reviews I’ve skimmed, In a Violent Nature is a deeply divisive film, and I can understand why. For what is fundamentally a straightforward slasher film, it feels almost nothing like a slasher film.

The slow pace, scenic vistas, and often wilful distance from the story may alienate those expecting something more accessible. At the same time, the premise, costume design, and sheer grotesquery of the violence are the purest distillation of slasher cinema. This is Friday the 13th reinvented as an A24 film.

We spend most of the film accompanying Johnny as he travels the woods. It feels like we’re playing some blood-soaked walking simulator, lulling us into trance. This makes the bursts of extreme violence all the more shocking, like intrusions from another film.

This reaches a breathless crescendo as we switch to following our final girl. No longer knowing where Johnny is, feeling he could be anywhere, becomes unbearable. Every moment, even in bright daylight, is filled with aching vulnerability. It’s a rare film that can make all my muscles tense as much as this did.

While I loved In a Violent Nature, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it makes my top three for the month, I’m a little wary about recommending it. A lot of people I know will hate this film, and I entirely understand why they would. Still, if you are in the mood for something deliberate, bloody, and experimental, you may find In a Violent Nature as captivating as I did.

The October Horror Movie Challenge

Please do join in and share your own thoughts with us about this or any other films as the month goes on. You can usually find us on Twitter, BlueSky, Reddit, Discord, or lurking in the dark corners of your home.

If you would like to play along at home, my provisional selections are:

We’re All Going to the World’s Fair (USA, 2021)
Tales That Witness Madness (UK, 1973)
When Evil Lurks (Argentina, 2023)
Under Paris (France, 2024)
In a Violent Nature (Canada, 2024)
Torso (Italy, 1973)
Titane (France, 2021)
Rorschach (USA, 2015)
The Coffee Table (Spain, 2024)
Dr Caligari (USA, 1989)
Bit (USA, 2020)
The Guard From Underground (Japan, 1992)
Oddity (Ireland, 2024)
Speak No Evil (Denmark/Netherlands, 2022)
Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker (USA, 1982)
Grave Torture (Indonesia, 2024)
Bedlam (USA, 1946)
The Innsmouth School For Girls (USA, 2023)
Daddy’s Head (UK, 2024)
All You Need Is Death (Ireland, 2024)
Eight Eyes (USA/Serbia, 2021)
Poor Things (Ireland/UK/USA, 2023)
Seven Deaths in the Cat’s Eye (Italy, 1973)
Longlegs (USA, 2024)
Night of Fear (Australia, 1973)
Stopmotion (UK, 2024)
Terrifier (USA, 2016)
Azrael (USA, 2024)
Faust (Germany, 1926)
Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky (Hong Kong, 1991)
I Saw the TV Glow (USA, 2024)

A Final Note

If you have been enticed here by these posts, please do look around at some of our other film reviews. We also have a podcast, called The Good Friends of Jackson Elias, which occasionally covers horror films. If this appeals, you might want to check out some of the following episodes.